1. Technical Field
The present application relates generally to an improved data processing system and method. More specifically, the present application is directed to a radio frequency identifier active/passive tag identifying failed sub-CRU and location within a higher level CRU.
2. Description of Related Art
In some systems, a collection of servers is interconnected into a server system, sharing high-speed fabric topologies, such as in BladeCenter® systems. “BladeCenter” is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. A BladeCenter® system is a server architecture that houses multiple server modules (“blades”) in a single chassis. Blade servers are widely used in datacenters to save space and improve system management. Either self-standing or rack mounted, the chassis provides the power supply. Each blade may have its own CPU, memory, and hard disk. Blade servers generally provide their own management systems and may include a network or storage switch.
In a BladeCenter® system, each blade is considered a customer replaceable unit (CRU). Each blade may also have sub-CRUs. Thus, when a blade fails, the failure may be due to a fault on the base blade itself or one of the sub-CRUs. The blade's embedded processor asserts a fault indicator when the failure occurs. If the fault is due to a sub-CRU, the processor identifies the CRU and saves this information to non-volatile memory.
To be able to identify the failed sub-CRU when the blade is removed, the blade implements a voltage source, such as a super capacitor (super cap) or coin cell battery, to power individual indicators and push buttons. The customer removes the blade for service to determine which sub-CRU has failed. The current method is for the customer to press each push button and look for respective indicators to light up. If an indicator lights up, then the corresponding sub-CRU is identified as the failed component. The customer may then replace the identified sub-CRU. If an indicator does not light up, then the customer may infer that the blade is faulty.
This implementation has several disadvantages. The battery or super cap, push buttons, and indicators are costly and take up valuable card real estate. Furthermore, the manual steps for problem determination are time-intensive. Still further, the manual process is prone to human error, as the operator must determine and locate the failed sub-CRUs.